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Friday, September 10, 2010

Girl, Oriented

In this, the penultimate week before Jada starts kindergarten at Penn Alexander School (PAS), we got a steady dose of her new school:

* On Tuesday morning, I attended an orientation in the cafeteria, where the three kindergarten teachers took turns walking all of us nervous parents through all things PAS.

* On Wednesday morning, Amy and I took Jada to her new classroom, to meet her new teacher, Ms. Silver, and her student teacher from Penn, Ms. Naomi. The two teachers took turns getting to know Jada and her strengths and weaknesses and tending to forms and questions with us.

* On Wednesday evening, I took Aaron and Jada to an ice cream social in the school’s courtyard, where we took turns slurping up ice cream sandwiches, saying hi to friends we knew, and soaking in all the energy of all the students and parents swirling around us. We were there not twenty minutes before we had to head home, and I was energized and exhausted by the experience, if that makes any sense.

Next week, it all starts in earnest. Amy is feeling a little raw from the emotion of seeing her little baby go off to big kid school. I’m excited to see how this place will help her get even more caught up in areas where she’s behind and accelerate her further in areas where she’s ahead. Both of us have our game face on, because the logistics and the parenting amp up from here on out. Whether or not we feel fully oriented, orientation is over and it’s time. Let’s do this!